


without the sea

by lilacsilver



Series: daughter of the sea [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Christmas, Established Relationship, F/M, Kid Fic, Merpeople, Motherhood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-30
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-01-26 23:17:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12568392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilacsilver/pseuds/lilacsilver
Summary: Snippets from a potential future.[Part of the 'daughter of the sea'-verse]





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this because I feel bad about how long I've gone without updating 'daughter of the sea.' It's kind of kicking my patootie right now and doesn't want to cooperate, so y'all get this to entertain you while I try to make the next chapter work.

Rebelling against thousands of years of instinct, thousands of years of the mermaid way, Darcy does not return to the sea to give birth. She refuses to deprive Steve of the chance to be the first to hold his daughters, two dear little things with scales and fins as pale as moonlight. His eyes shine with unshed tears and unutterable joy, and he greets their children in a voice that trembles.

“Hi,” he says. “I’m your dad.”

The one tucked securely in the crook of his right arm merely yawns. Her name is Sarah, and her sister is Alice. Darcy reaches out to brush her fingers across Alice’s wispy hair and meets Steve’s eyes with a smile. She is exhausted, and despite her best efforts to stay awake and burn this precious sight into her memory, she gives into the pull of slumber.

-

The next night, back in the apartment, Darcy wakes in the darkness of her bedroom. Sarah and Alice are in their little cots next to the bed, their fins wrapped in wet towels, and Steve is asleep beside her. Before she can second-guess herself, she whispers the spell that will steal the sea from her children forever. Under her watchful eye, their fins shift into legs. She quickly moves to take care of the towels and damp bedding, and dries them off.

Unsurprisingly, all this activity wakes Steve up. He inspects the babies, gives her a Look that suggests they’ll soon be discussing the importance of making such major parenting decisions together, and somehow manages to put diapers on both girls without waking them.

Of course, the moment Darcy slips back into bed, Sarah wakes. And so, in turn, does Alice. They soon quiet down, nursing greedily in sync, while their mother rests her eyes.

-

The rest of the team – the family – dotes on the twins. Natasha sings to them in Russian, and insists that they should be exposed to a variety of languages, so Darcy dusts off the French and Spanish she hasn’t used in years. Clint, Thor, and Tony enter into a competition for favorite uncle status, which Pepper has to shut down when it starts getting heated. 

-  
When the girls are eighteen, Darcy tells them everything. She cannot reverse what she did when they were very small, no matter how Sarah cries and begs.

“Even if I could,” she says, “I wouldn’t. It’s not the life I want for either of you.”

“Why?” Alice asks. She is calm and logical where Sarah is passionate and fierce, and always has been. She never reacts to a situation without learning all that there is to know about it.

“It’s lonely. I went decades between conversations before SHIELD found me, and before I met your father.”

“You could have at least let us _choose_ ,” Sarah snaps. “But no, you made sure we were _stuck_ like this!”

Darcy slaps her open hand against the kitchen table. Her daughters jump. “I made sure you could have a better life than the one I used to lead! I made sure you could have a good education, and a family that loves you, and an entire _goddamn_ world of possibilities in front of you. I made sure you would never be as lonely as I was.”

Alice preempts any response Sarah might have by clamping a hand over her sister’s mouth. “And we love you for that, Mom. Even if some of us aren’t acting like it.”

“I know, sweetheart. I know.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mermaid Darcy: the holiday edition.

Though she has been part of the human world for some time now, Darcy has never celebrated Christmas. She has always been too busy; Hydra and the rest of the Avengers’ long list of enemies don’t take holidays either. 

This year, her sixth at Steve’s side, will be different. Sarah and Alice are old enough to take an interest in the proceedings, so she makes all sorts of plans. On December first, she enlists Sam to babysit while she and Steve set up the tree and the little holiday village (complete with working train set). On December fourth, a very large box arrives that contains a heap of new clothes for the girls and four matching pajama sets in varying sizes -- she’ll be damned if they don’t take at least one sickeningly adorable family Christmas photo.

The time she doesn’t spend at work is taken up by every Christmas movie she can get her hands on. She sings carols to get the children to sleep, bakes all manner of treats to share with the team, and, yes, gets that family photo.

On Christmas Eve, after the girls have been put to bed and all the gifts set out under the tree, she turns to Steve.

“Merry Christmas, love,” she tells him. “Don’t ever let me go this crazy over a holiday again.”

Steve just laughs.


End file.
